Golf club head with a visually examinable interior

ABSTRACT

A golf club head with a visually examinable interior includes a main hollow body and at least two through-holes defined in place in the main hollow body. The main hollow body has a striking plate welded thereto. The through-holes are defined in the main hollow body in different areas at such points that a visible range as large as possible for examining the interior of the hollow body is obtainable. Thus, when a slim illuminant has been inserted through one through-hole and lights in the hollow body, welding quality within the golf club head can be examined visually through the other through-hole.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a golf club head and, more particularly, to a golf club head which has at least two through-holes defined in place therein for visual examination of welding quality within the golf club head.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] As shown in FIG. 1, a golf club head typically includes a main hollow body 10 having a front opening 11, a striking plate 20 welded to the main body 10 at the entrance of the opening 11 and a sleeve 30 formed on a top of the main body 10. After the plate 20 is welded, it is usually required to examine an inside and outside of the club head at where the weld seam extends to ensure the welding quality, including the penetration, deposition and joining between the base and filler metals.

[0005] The examination is normally made by inserting an endoscope 40 into the interior of the golf club head through the sleeve 30. Although the endoscope 40 is so flexible as to allow the adjustment of its visible angle, the operation is not convenient enough and must take a relative long period of time, in addition to the fact that both the endoscope 40 and its peripheral equipment are expensive. In other words, the interior of the conventional golf club head can be examined neither quickly nor cheaply.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head which has at least two through-holes defined in place therein for visual examination of welding quality within the head, so as to make the examination convenient.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide a mold assembly for forming a wax pattern in the same shape as a main hollow body of the golf club head mentioned in the above object in which a plurality of outer molds has at least two additional stubs to form the through-holes of the golf club head, as well as to support and space a mold core away from the outer molds at a predetermined spacing so as to make the entire wax pattern uniform in thickness.

[0008] Still another object of the present invention is to provide a mold assembly in which the additional stubs can slow down and equalize the flow of melted wax within the outer molds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] To achieve the aforementioned objects, the present invention provides a golf club head comprising a main hollow body and at least two through-holes defined in place in the main hollow body. The main hollow body has a striking plate welded thereto. The through-holes are defined in different sides of the body at such points that a visible range as large as possible for examining the interior of the hollow body is obtainable. When a slim illuminant has been inserted through one through-hole and lights in the hollow body, welding quality within the golf club head can be examined visually through the other through-hole.

[0010] Other objects, advantages and novel features of this invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golf club head of a conventional type, showing how the interior of the head is examined;

[0012]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a first preferred embodiment of a golf club head in accordance with the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the golf club head of FIG. 1, showing how the interior of the head is examined;

[0014]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a second preferred embodiment of the inventive golf club head; and

[0015]FIG. 5 is an exploded cross-sectional view of a mold assembly for forming a wax pattern in the same shape as a main hollow body included in the inventive golf club head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0016] The present invention is now to be described hereinafter by way of preferred embodiments in reference to drawings.

[0017] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, a golf club head with a visually examinable exterior in accordance with the present invention includes a main hollow body 10 and at least two through-holes 12 and 12′ defined in place in the main body 10. The main hollow body 10 has a striking plate 20 welted thereto, and the through-holes 12 and 12′ are defined in the main hollow body 10 in different areas. Thus, when a slim illuminant 50 has been inserted through one through-hole 12′ and lights in the hollow body 10, welding quality within the golf club head can be examined either visually or instrumentally through the other through-holes 12, so that the examination becomes convenient.

[0018] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, details of a first preferred embodiment of the golf club head are shown. The main hollow body 10 is usually made of metal or alloy, such as stainless steel or titanium alloy or the like, and has a front opening 11 defined therein with the striking plate 20 welted to the main hollow body 10 at the entrance of the opening 11, as shown in FIG. 1. Optionally, the welding procedure may be performed by tungsten-inert-gas arc welding (TIG), laser-beam welding (LBW) or plasma arc welding (PAW).

[0019] The through-holes 12 and 12′, usually in the number of two, are preferably defined in place in the main hollow body 10, especially in different side areas, to maximize the range visually examinable from the through-holes 12 and 12′. For example, the through-holes 12 and 12′ can be defined in the main hollow body 10 at such points that straight lines between the points and a midpoint of the inside of the striking plate may make two equal angles θ with a normal line X of the same inside at the midpoint, as best shown in FIG. 2. Preferably, each of angle θ is between 25 degrees to 45 degrees, especially of 30 degrees.

[0020] This arrangement of the through-holes 12 and 12′ makes the welding quality, including the penetration, deposition and joining between the base and filler metals, within the main hollow body 10 examinable visually or instrumentally when a slim illuminant 50, such as a light pen, lights in the inventive golf club head. The whole examination can be made only by exchanging the positions between the illuminant 50 and the view point no more than one time.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 4, details of a second preferred embodiment of the inventive golf club head are shown. In this embodiment, through-holes 12 and 12″ are defined in place in the main hollow body 10 in a side area and a top area, respectively. Moreover, the through-holes 12 and 12″ are now defined at such points that a straight line between one point and the midpoint of the inside of the striking plate makes an angle θ with the normal line X of the inside at the midpoint but another straight line between the other point and the midpoint makes an angle θ′ with the same normal line X. The two angles are preferably between 25 degrees to 45 degrees, especially of 30 degrees, so as to provide a visible range as large as possible for examination of the welding quality within the inventive head.

[0022] In either embodiment, each of the through-holes 12 and 12′/12″ preferably has a diameter less than 7.5 mm, especially of 5 mm, thus providing a visible range as large as possible without significantly weakening the main hollow body 10. Additionally, the inventive main hollow body 10 may be made by welding three plates and a sleeve 30 together or, alternatively, may be made integrally using a wax pattern 64 which, as shown in FIG. 5, is in the same shaped of the main hollow body 10.

[0023] Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a mold assembly for forming the wax pattern 64 mentioned above. The mold assembly includes a plurality of outer molds 61 and 62 and a mold core 63 received within the outer molds 61 and 62, in order to form a wax pattern 64 with an opening 641. A number of the wax patterns 64 in the same shape then can be joined together and placed into a refractory slurry, in order to form associated plaster casts (not shown) and afterwards a number of main hollow bodies 10 with an opening 11.

[0024] The outer molds 61 and 62 preferably have at least two additional stubs 611 and 621 formed in place thereon to provide the resulting wax pattern 64 with two orifices 642 and 643, by which the main hollow body 10 can be provided with the through-holes 12 and 12′/12″ simultaneously as the body 10 is formed.

[0025] The method for forming the main hollow body 10 simultaneously with the through-holes 12 and 12′/12″ has following advantages during manufacturing procedures:

[0026] 1. The stubs 611 and 621 can be used to support and space the mold core 63 away from the outer molds 61 and 62 at a predetermined spacing, so that the entire hollow wax pattern 64 is uniform in thickness;

[0027] 2. The stubs 611 and 621 can also be used to slow down and equalize the flow of melted wax within the outer molds 61 and 62;

[0028] 3. When many clusters of the joined wax patterns 64 are being cleaned in liquid, the orifices 642 and 643 allow air to escape from the interiors of the hollow wax patterns 64 and thereby prevent the patterns 64 from floating and collision;

[0029] 4. When the wax patterns 64 are removed from the refractory slurry, the orifices 642 and 643 prevents the wax patterns 64 from being heavy enough to break as the result of excessive amount of slurry remained in the hollow patterns 64;

[0030] 5. The resulting plaster cast to be used for casting the main hollow bodies 10 at high temperature also has a pair of associated stubs (not shown), which interconnect and space the outer and inner walls of the plaster cast at a predetermined spacing, so that the entire hollow bodies 10 may be uniform in thickness.

[0031] From the foregoing, it is apparent that this invention has the advantage of enabling the interior of the inventive golf club head to be examined quickly and simply in comparison to the prior art, in which an endoscope 40 is required and the examination takes much of time.

[0032] While the principles of this invention have been disclosed in connection with specific embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that these descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and that any modification and variation without departing the spirit of the invention is intended to be covered by the scope of this invention defined only by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A golf club head with a visually examinable interior, comprising: a main hollow body having an opening defined therein and a striking plate welted to said main hollow body at the entrance of said opening; and at least two through-holes defined in place in said main hollow body; whereby welding quality within said golf club head can be examined visually through one of said through-holes when a slim illuminant has been inserted through the other of said through-holes and lights in said main hollow body.
 2. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein said through-holes are defined in said main hollow body in different side areas.
 3. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein said through-holes are defined in said main hollow body in a side area and a top area, respectively.
 4. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein said striking plate has a midpoint in an inside thereof, and wherein said through-holes are defined n said main hollow body at such points that straight lines between said points and said midpoint make two equal angles with a normal line of said inside at said midpoint.
 5. The golf club head as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of said angles is between 25 degrees to 45 degrees, such as of 30 degrees.
 6. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said through-holes has a diameter less than 7.5 mm, such as of 5 mm.
 7. A mold assembly for forming a wax pattern in the same shape as the main hollow body of the golf club head as claimed in claim 1, said mold assembly comprising a plurality of outer molds and a mold core adapted to be received in said outer molds, and said outer molds having at least two additional stubs formed in place thereon to provide said wax pattern with at least two orifices in correspondence to the through-holes of said main hollow body of said golf club head. 